What It's Like
by Vegorott
Summary: Justin goes to deal with one of Death City's 'problem cases', he might no longer be an actual danger or at least, he's not purposely trying to kill anyone but he is still a pain when alcohol came into play. Although Justin does get to see a different side of the man when he's told not to go.


Justin softly hummed to himself as he walked down the empty street, the citizens having been told to leave for the afternoon due to the disturbance Justin was heading to investigate. He had a feeling he knew what was happening after being given the mission statement. The DWMA knew that he was the best to deal with the situation and knew everything would be fine under Justin's control and they knew if there was real trouble, Justin would come back for help.

"Fuck you too, you clear piece of shit!" Justin sighed when he heard something shatter. So much for trying to prevent damages to the properties. "Mocking me, fucking...shit." Justin stopped and held his hands behind his back when he found the man he was looking for. Giriko was fumbling through the shattered glass of a window he had destroyed. Grumbling to himself as he grounded a shard to dust under his boot.

"Giriko," Justin stated, sighing again when he wasn't able to easily catch the man's attention. Giriko threw the beer bottle in his hand to the ground, laughing after doing so. "Giriko," Justin repeated, allowing his voice to raise a little as he removed one of his earbuds.

"Oi, you shitty priest." Giriko slurred, using his arm to scratch the bottom of his nose. "What do ya want?"

"You're drunk."

"And you're a bitch!" Giriko began laughing again while Justin rolled his eyes.

"Hilarious. Let's get you home." Justin made a face when Giriko stumbled away from him.

"No~" The word came out as a whine and Justin had to bite his lip to hold back a laugh. That was not something he could imagine Giriko being able to even do.

"How far gone are you?" Justin asked himself and started to walk over to Giriko.

"Where's my beer?" Giriko asked, looking at the ground around him.

"You drank it all and then smashed the bottle against the ground," Justin answered.

"Well, fuck." Giriko huffed.

"Are you coming with me or am I carrying you?" Justin asked.

"Like you could-oh fuck!" Giriko cursed when Justin suddenly wrapped his arms around his hips and threw the larger man over his shoulder. "How the fuck!?"

"I'm stronger than I look, Giriko," Justin stated.

"Fucking put me down! Oi! Priest! Do you hear me!?" Giriko shouted but not struggling against Justin's hold and Justin assumed it was because he didn't have enough control over his body in order to do so.

"An entire town had to evacuate because you decided to get drunk." Justin scolded after a long moment of walking in silence.

"I don't care," Giriko mumbled, his body mostly limp against Justin now.

"When have you cared about anything?" Justin said. "Or anyone?" He added in a softer voice, shaking his head when he heard a snore come from Giriko. Of course, he'd pass out when he still had a good mile left of walking. At least he could go back to his music.

Justin grunted as he kicked the door to Giriko's 'home', making sure to keep the sleeping man on his shoulder, _on_ his shoulder. He's never heard the end of it if he dropped him to the floor. Justin found himself grumbling as he pushed garbage away with his foot, trying to get to the room down the hall, deciding it would be better to get Giriko in his bed instead of just dropping him off on the couch, no matter how much it tempted him.

"We need to hire you a maid or something." Justin grumbled, stepping over an empty cardboard box. "Maybe a flamethrower would work." Justin finally managed to make it to Giriko's 'bedroom' and he plopped Giriko on his bed. "Graceful." Justin said to himself when Giriko was sprawled out and snoring louder. Justin looked around the pigsty of a room and found a couple of water bottles in the corner. At least the man drank more than just alcohol, Justin thought to himself as he grabbed two bottles and went back over to the sleeping man. "Get up." Justin used one of the bottles to pat at Giriko's chest, holding back another laugh when Giriko snorted himself awake.

"Wha..." Giriko looked around, trying to figure out where he was as he sat up.

"Drink this." Justin dropped the bottle and it slid down Giriko's body as Justin placed the other one next to the bed. Giriko simply sniffed and opened the bottle, downing all of the water in one long gulp. "There. I did my duty. Goodbye." Justin stated and turned around, only able to get a few steps in before Giriko's voice made him stop.

"Don't go." Now it was Justin's turn to be confused.

"What?"

"Do you know what it's like? To always be alone?" Giriko asked, his eyes still glazed over from being highly intoxicated. Justin could tell this had to be the farthest gone Giriko has been with him around. Usually he was just crude and violent, this...was different. "I spent over eight-hundred years alone. Sure, there were people, but I never knew their names. I didn't know them and they didn't know me. All I had was bloodlust. All I had was a deep craving to let everything go and just…I don't even have that anymore." Giriko plopped back down on the bed, now staring up at the ceiling. "It was nice to have a place to return to that had someone there. Even if you knew deep down inside that they didn't care for you, but it was nice to pretend."

"Arachne?" Justin found himself asking, seeing Giriko turning his head back towards him, his eyes now showing a hint of wetness in them, red forming around the rims as well as a hint of future eye pain in the morning.

"Yeah," Giriko answered softly. "She didn't really do anything, but she was there, ya know?" Giriko went back to looking at the ceiling. "Guess that's all it takes to claim my soul...is to just be there."

"Go to sleep Giriko," Justin said as he made his way over to the couch that was in the room.

"Huh?" Giriko lifted his head just enough to see Justin.

"I'll stay here for the night, go to sleep." Justin stated, picking up the blanket before scrunching his nose. "Do you have any blankets that don't reek of…" Justin's voice trailed off when he heard Giriko snoring again. How he managed to fall back asleep so quickly was a mystery to Justin. Justin just shrugged, it was only one night, he could get over it.

x~x~x

Giriko woke with a groan, head aching and he was surprised to not feel it pounding like it usually did in the mornings. He rolled over and found a water bottle next to his bed. Giriko grunted his approval as he took the bottle and quickly drank all of it, letting out a gasp after finishing. He grunted again as he pushed himself up so he was sitting on his rear, yawning loudly as he stretched, humming when he heard a sound.

"The fuck?" Giriko said out loud when he found a blonde man sleeping on the couch. Did he bring someone home last night? He usually went to their place since people would always complain about the mess he was currently walking through. Giriko couldn't actually remember the last time he had actually been with anyone, did he finally...wait. "Priest!?" Giriko shouted when he finally reached the couch and found that it Justin Law sleeping, a sharp pain in his head made him flinch. Headaches were no fun.

"Must you shout?" Justin groaned, rubbing an eye with the heel of his hand. "I assumed you'd have a headache due to a hangover after how gone you were last night., Justin added as he sat up, removing the blanket from his body.

"What are you doing on my couch!?" Giriko snapped, wincing at the pain he had just caused himself again.

"You told me to stay." Justin stated, slipping his shoes on and having Giriko realize that his boots were still on his feet but he quickly push that care aside.

"I didn't ask you to-"

"Do you know what it's like? To always be alone?" Justin quoted from last night, getting Giriko to close his mouth. "I spent over eight-hundred years alone." Justin was now standing as well as he continued to quote the other man. " Sure, there were people, but I never knew their names. I didn't know them and they didn't know me."

"Stop." Giriko turned away, heading back over to his bed.

"All I had was bloodlust." Justin crossed his arms and watched as Giriko pushed objects around, shoulders slumped over. "All I had was a deep craving to let everything go." Justin chewed at his lip for a second, a hint of sorrow filling his chest. "I don't even have that anymore." Giriko caught the slight change of tone in Justin's voice. "It was nice to have a place to return to that had someone there..." Justin's voice trailed off. "It's not fun being alone." Giriko could tell Justin was no longer quoting him. That came from Justin. That was Justin speaking. "Please refrain yourself from causing chaos in the town." Justin's voice went flat again as he gathered his necklace and earphones. "What you do in the privacy of your home is no matter to the DWMA, but we will get involved if you disturb the peace." Justin slipped on his necklace and had one earphone in as he was walking away.

"Justin?" Justin found himself stopping and lowered his hand, leaving one ear uncovered. It was so strange hearing his name come out of Giriko's mouth. He was so used to being called 'Priest' or some variation of the word. "Don't go?" Justin found himself struggling to swallow for a moment. Why was his throat closing up on him? There was a pause between them before Justin's voice went against him.

"I know what it's like to be alone." Justin felt his face heat up. Why did he say that? What was the purpose? There was another, longer, painful pause. "I'm sorry." Justin tried to walk out again but was stopped this time by a hand on his wrist.

"Justin?" Giriko said again, some pleading in his voice.

"I have work to do?"

"Do you?"

"When don't I?" Justin lightly tugged on his arm and was surprised when Giriko released it.

"Why did you stay?" Giriko asked.

"You asked me to."

"When have you ever done anything I've asked?"

"I…" Justin shook his head, he actually wasn't sure how to answer that question. "I have a guest room." Justin bent down and grabbed a marker and a scrap piece of paper off of the ground. "It's not much, but it does have a bed. It's probably more comfortable than…" Justin looked over at Giriko's 'bed' which was just an old mattress on the ground. Justin pressed the paper to his thigh and quickly wrote down his address. "Feel free to come by." Justin placed the marker down on the stack of cardboard boxes that was some form of a desk and handed the paper to Giriko.

"Why are you offering this?" Giriko asked.

"It's not fun to be left alone. It makes you want to do...horrible things." Justin glanced down at the ground. "There's a key in the mailbox, all I ask is for you to not enter my room. There isn't anything interesting in there but I'd prefer you not to be in there without my presence."

"I guess I can follow that one rule." Giriko said.

"Goodbye." Justin went over to the exit.

"What do you want for dinner?" Justin looked at Giriko and hummed his question. "I've been told I make a mean steak." Giriko chuckled.

"I'd...I'd like that." Justin said with a small smile. "I'll see you at dinner then?"

"Yeah." Giriko watched as Justin left his house. Giriko chewed the inside of his cheek as he read over the paper. He couldn't stop a smile forming on his own lips as he tucked the paper away and started gathering what few belongings he owned.


End file.
